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Lahore, February 24, 2014 (PPI-OT): No audit, no penalty and no additional tax are the advantages which NTN-holding, Non-filer and new taxpayer would get under Prime Minister tax incentives package.
This was stated by the Chief Commissioner Large Taxpayer Unit (LTU) Mustafa Ashraf while speaking at the second session jointly organized by the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) here on Monday.
The LCCI Vice President Kashif Anwar gave LCCI point of view while Chief Commissioner RTO-I Shafqat Mehmood and Chief Commissioner RTO-II Chaudhry Safdar Hussain responded to members queries.
He appreciated the Federal Board of Revenue role in facilitating the business community to get maximum benefit from Prime Minister Tax Incentive Scheme,
The LCCI Vice President Kashif Anwar said that the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry would continue its efforts to supplement government’s endeavours aimed at jacking up the tax to GDP ratio.
Mustafa Ashraf was of the view that Prime Minister Tax Incentive Scheme is a golden opportunity for non-NTN holders and for those NTN holders who have discontinued filing tax return.
“The Scheme is unprecedented in many ways. Neither any question would be asked about the investment sources nor any audit would be conducted.”
The LTU Chief Commissioner said that the FBR would be approaching the Banks for only those businessmen who would not avail the scheme despite having heavy bank accounts and are enjoying a luxurious life style.
He said that the Scheme would not only give boost to economic activities while it would also bring down the graph of unemployment in the country.
Speaking on the occasion, the LCCI Vice President Kashif Anwar said that the FBR should extend the date to accommodate more non-filers in the Prime Minister Tax Incentive Scheme.
He said that the business community was not reluctant to pay due taxes but at the same time they wanted of the FBR to expedite process of refunds. He said that delayed release of refund was creating cash flow problems for the established businesses.
The LCCI Vice President said that it was very unfortunate that the persons registered with Income Tax were treated as Unregistered with Sales Tax. This anomaly should be done away with as it is tantamount to squeeze the existing tax payers.
He said that end to under-invoicing, smuggling, tax reforms, simplification of taxation procedures and expansion in tax net by bringing untaxed sectors into the tax net, downward revision in rate of taxes, cut in number of taxes would help put economy back on rails.
The LCCI Vice President also expressed reservations on clause 9 of Income Tax Circular 15, 2013 and authority given to the Commissioner under section 122(5) and 122(5A) of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001.
Kashif Anwar said that the role of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) should be to educate, guide and facilitate as it would not only expand tax net but would also help FBR implement its policies in a friendly atmosphere. He also said that all sectors of society should play their role in boosting the economy.
The LCCI Vice President also called for simplification of taxation procedures that are too complicated to understand and because of multiplicity and high rate of taxes. Presently the existing tax-payers are being squeezed that is hitting hard the government’s endeavours aimed at generating required revenues to run the affairs of the government.
He said that in present scenario it is very difficult to increase our exports and Government should bring down the high cost of doing businesses in the country. He also asked the FBR authorities to resolve the issues related to valuation of goods as this is hurting the businesses very badly.
The government would have to come up with a package of incentives for non-tax payers besides bringing agriculture sector into the tax net. He said that Federal Board of Revenue would not be able to achieve its revenue target without providing a business friendly atmosphere to the business doing people.
He said that a fool-proof strategy should be evolved and implemented to control under-invoicing and smuggling that were causing huge damage to the genuine businesses.
For more information, contact:
Shahid Khalil
Information Department
Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI)
11-Shahrah-e-Aiwan-e-Tijarat,
Lahore -54000, Pakistan
Tel: +9242 111 222 499
Fax: +92 42 636 8854